Republican Party presidential primaries, 1996

The 1996 Republican presidential primaries were the selection process by which voters of the Republican Party chose its nominee for President of the United States in the 1996 U.S. presidential election. Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole was selected as the nominee through a series of primary elections and caucuses culminating in the 1996 Republican National Convention held from August 12 to August 15, 1996 in San Diego, California.

Background

Following the 1994 midterm elections, many prominent candidates entered what would be a crowded field. This was expected as Democratic President Bill Clinton was very unpopular in his first two years in office, eventually leading to the Republican Revolution. However, as Clinton became increasingly popular in his third year in office, several withdrew from the race or decided not to run. Former U.S. Army Gen. Colin L. Powell was widely courted as a potential Republican nominee. However, on November 8, 1995, Powell announced that he would not seek the nomination. Former Secretary of Defense and future Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney was touted by many as a possible candidate for the presidency, but he declared his intentions not to run in early 1995. Then-Texas Governor George W. Bush was also urged by some party leaders to seek the Republican Party nomination, but opted against doing so.

Primary race overview

Going into the 1996 primary contest, Senate Majority Leader and former vice-presidential nominee Bob Dole was widely seen as the front runner. Dole had significant name recognition, as he was a two time presidential candidate - in 1980 and 1988, and was expected to win the nomination against underdog candidates such as the more conservative U.S. Senator Phil Gramm of Texas and more centrist U.S. Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. The fragmented field of candidates, which also included journalist and 1992 presidential candidate Pat Buchanan and magazine publisher Steve Forbes, debated issues such as a flat tax and other tax cut proposals, and a return to supply-side economic policies popularized by Ronald Reagan. More attention was drawn to the race by the budget stalemate in 1995 between the Congress and the President, which caused temporary shutdowns and slowdowns in many areas of federal government service.

Dole won the Iowa Caucus with 26% of the vote, a considerably smaller margin of victory than was expected. In the New Hampshire Primary, Buchanan recorded a surprising victory over Dole, who finished in second place.

In subsequent primaries and caucuses, Buchanan received further victories in Alaska and Louisiana; Forbes won contests in Delaware and New Mexico. These results put Dole's expected front runner status in doubt during the formative months of the primary season. Buchanan's victory in Alaska was significant in that Buchanan later said that future Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin worked on his 1996 Alaska campaign. ^[1]Dole then managed to win every primary after and including North and South Dakota; this eventually gave him enough delegate commitments to claim status as the GOP presidential presumptive nominee. Dole resigned his Senate seat on June 11 in order to focus more intently on his presidential campaign.

The delegates at the Republican National Convention formally nominated Dole on August 15, 1996 as the GOP presidential candidate for the general election. Dole was the oldest first-time presidential nominee at the age of 73 years, 1 month (Ronald Reagan was 73 years, 6 months in 1984, for his second presidential nomination).

Former Congressman and Cabinet secretary Jack Kemp was nominated by acclamation as Dole's running mate the following day. Other politicians mentioned as possible GOP V.P. nominees before Kemp was selected were Ohio Governor George Voinovich, Michigan Governor John Engler, and then Texas Governor George W. Bush.

Candidates

Nominee

Withdrew during primary elections

Withdrew before primary elections

Declined to run

Results

Statewide

Nationwide

Overall popular primaries vote^[3]

• Bob Dole - 9,024,742 (58.82%)
• Pat Buchanan - 3,184,943 (20.76%)
• Steve Forbes - 1,751,187 (11.41%)
• Lamar Alexander - 495,590 (3.23%)
• Alan Keyes - 471,716 (3.08%)
• Richard Lugar - 127,111 (0.83%)
• Unpledged - 123,278 (0.80%)
• Phil Gramm - 71,456 (0.47%)
• Bob Dornan - 42,140 (0.28%)
• Morry Taylor - 21,180 (0.14%)

Convention tally:

• Bob Dole 1,928
• Pat Buchanan 43
• Steve Forbes 2
• Alan Keyes 1
• Robert Bork 1

See also

• Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 1996

References